The Vampires of Venice

"I like the bit where someone says it's bigger on the inside."

Writer: Toby Whithouse

Format: TV

Broadcast: 8th May 2010

Series: 5.06

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory

Synopsis 

The Doctor takes Amy and Rory, soon to be married, on a romantic trip to Venice, 1580 to make Amy focus on her relationship with her fiancé. However, things aren't quite what they seem.

Warnings of the plague are spreading about despite having died out years before, and pale, creepy girls who don't like sunlight are lurking around. Could it have something to do with the school run by the mysterious Rosanna Calvierri?

Verdict 

The Vampires of Venice was a very good episode of Doctor Who and continued Matt Smith's debut fifth series as the Eleventh Doctor very well! This story pretty much followed on immediately from the climax of The Time of Angels/Flesh and Stone where Amy came on to the Doctor, kissing him, on the eve of her wedding day to Rory. The aforementioned two-part story was nicely referenced more than once in this episode and I liked how the Doctor was doing something about his new companion's antics. He did admit that Amy was a great kisser and judging by the kiss she gave Rory later in the episode, I'd have to agree! Karen Gillan is pretty incredible and Arthur Darvill is one lucky guy getting paid to kiss a woman with as much beauty as her. Gillan really did look stunning in this episode but she wasn't the only one! I think this must be the most raunchy episode of Doctor Who yet with the Doctor seemingly very much enjoying the fact that there were beautiful young girls who were actually vampires! Well, they weren't vampires but they resembled everything about them and that was excellent. I'd probably have preferred the story if they actually were vampires as I didn't think the Saturnyns were that impressive in their true form. Their appearance looked a tad silly and not really threatening. It's hard to be scared by a walking fish, even if it has sharp teeth. The Blowfish worked much better in Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang because it had a gun. But these just had screeches. Thankfully, I really liked Rosanna as the figurehead of the species and she actually made the episode really good which is reflected in the rating that it just about achieves. She was brilliant and her relationship with the Doctor throughout was superb. The scene where the pair exchanged an answer for an answer was wonderful. Her calm reaction to the Doctor being from Gallifrey was fantastic and I liked just how much she knew about the Time Lords and the Time War. This episode was hugely important in what we'd associate as the Series 6 arc of the Silence but they got mentioned many times here. Looking back we can obviously pick upon the points here but the only thing about the Silence that I can recall from my watching on broadcast nearly six years ago was the final scene with Rory saying how all he could hear was silence. That stayed with me and I knew it was going to be more than just a strong note to finish on. It really was a great ending scene. I liked the references to The Eleventh Hour and foreshadowing of The Day of the Doctor very much. I think my favourite scene of the episode came when Rory first entered the TARDIS and the Doctor was disappointed that he didn't get a 'bigger on the inside' moment. He must really love that and I do think part of the reason he takes on a new companion is just for that moment! He loves it, and why wouldn't he? Francesco was a bit of a weird character and didn't offer too much, but Guido and Isabella were marvellous. The Doctor vowing to stop Rosanna because she didn't know Isabella's name was stunning and so in line with this brilliant incarnation of the Doctor. Matt Smith is just so good and the scene where he stopped Venice from sinking with the humorous off switch search was great. Overall, a very good episode with a good plot and decent characters. Rory has now officially joined the TARDIS team and the Saturnyns were stopped, even if Rosanna gave herself to her own people who would now go hungry. Very good. 

Rating: 8/10